GRAHAM BARROW believes the race for automatic promotion - and subsequent battle to finish as high as possible in the play-offs - will go down to the wire.

Fifth placed Wrexham are only four points behind leaders Leyton Orient with 15 games to go after ending a run of five successive defeats without scoring by beating Maidenhead United 1-0 on Saturday.

Salford City, Solihull Moors and AFC Fylde are all within a point of the Reds who hold a slender advantage over Harrogate and Sutton, the other two teams in the play-offs.

Barrow expects the fight for a top-seven finish to be closely fought until the final day of the regular season on April 27.

"I don't remember it being this tight last year," said Barrow.

"It was Macclesfield and Tranmere up to a point; Tranmere were the most dangerous ones, I think Macclesfield got turned over by Fylde at Christmas time and then they never looked back after that.

"They got their act together and really kicked on, won game after game.

"It is stiff competition and the way it is going I think it is going to go to the wire on everything. There are different categories; top spot obviously, second and third is a big one, and then fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.

"It is going to go all the way one way or another."

Despite the poor start to 2019, Wrexham have remained in the promotion mix.

With other teams also suffering dips in form, none of the Reds' title rivals have managed to pull away and Barrow is looking forward to an exciting final three months of the campaign.

"It has usually been a two or three horse race by now, but it is obviously not that," said Barrow, who will be looking to make it two wins in a row at Boreham Wood on Saturday.

"The big thing for us was we needed a win to stay with it and now once we got the win, we have got to build on it.

"I am been involved with promotions and by this time you see two or three teams break away.

"The structure of the league makes for an exciting few months and nerve wracking as well."